Had this sketched out months ago, but I just now got around to finishing it. I had no clue how I wanted it to look when I started coloring. This is the product of a lot of experimenting and messing around.

It's not perfect, but I like it.

Seems like every time I play around, I come up with some new technique, like the apple textured background. It's not that difficult to pull off, but I'm glad I found out how to do it.

Illustrator and Photoshop have their own specific roles and really can't replace one another. Illustrator is made for vector artwork whereas Photoshop is made for raster imaging like photo corrections and painting. Both programs can do either thing, but each one will always be able to do the job is made for better than it's counterpart.

I'm not going to lie, it's very different from Photoshop and it may take some time getting used to. Especially if you're not used to the pen tool. But once you figure it out it's a pleasure to work in.